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DSW Semi annual sale starts now. Twice a year. Tons of deals going fast. It's all or nothing. A designer shoe warehouse will give you something to brag about, like 40% off clearance in all DSW stores or an extra 10% off clearance@dsw.com don't sleep on these savings. Find shoes that get you at prices that get your budget DSW Let us surprise you. Ich eise schenen Maldonado und bendigunderen von Jawie einem geschenke Laarden der auf Kunstwerke und hand gerdichter objecbezialisiertest Meine wahl vil auf Shopify. Weil Shopify im vergleichsut in anderen platform die ich gested habe mit ambenutzer freundlichtenwahr Ichabe vor allem Anditz Alle tuhlst die Verdi aus Wertung von verkaufst seilen wichtichind zum Bespier von lagerbe stenten Find Starter Jetstein Costen dosen test of Shopify Punk. Com. You're listening to an Ono Media Podcast. Hey everyone and welcome back to the into the Dark podcast. I'm your host, Peyton Moreland. I'm so grateful that you are here watching or listening to today's episode. Jumping straight into my 10 seconds if you don't follow me on social media. This might come as a surprise to you, but we finally were able to announce that I am pregnant. If you've been watching on YouTube, you have probably seen over the last, you know, quite a while that I'm looking a little different, sounding a little different. I'm inflamed, I'm puffy, I've gained weight, it's hard to breathe. But anyways, that's what I've been going through. Yeah, first, first trimester and second trimester of pregnancy. So thank you for bearing with me as I was sick a and was going through that. But I am so excited to be able to finally share it with you guys and not have to hide it. And yeah, for a lot of you the belly burn might make more sense now because my belly is sticking out, which is how I burned it on the pan because I forget that it is bigger and sticking out and so I just bump it on everything. And yeah, so the belly burn probably makes a little more sense now. It's also why I couldn't show you because, well, my belly's big. But yeah, we just wanted to wait a bit, make sure everything Was good to go before sharing the news, but yeah, so I'm pregnant. First trimester was horrible. If you watch, you could probably tell. But anyways, some of you probably suspected. I know a lot of people suspected. But that's kind of my 10 seconds. But really, that's my 10 seconds for the last little while. But thank you guys so much for all of the love we received on the announcement over on social media. I really appreciate it. It was like such a fun day and you made something that was already so fun, just even that more exciting to be able to share it with all of you guys. And I know that like this is a big deal in our lives and you guys are a part of our life and so it of course makes sense that it's a big deal to all of us. But again, thank you. That being said, let's get into today's episode, a trigger warning. This episode includes discussions of domestic violence, so please listen with care. A lot of the time when we talk about family, we are discussing something good. The unconditional love parents feel for their children and vice versa. The siblings, cousins, aunts and uncles who support you no matter what. The people who come together to celebrate your wins, grieve your losses, and remember the way things used to be. But not every family is healthy, supportive or safe. However, if you'd met Robbie and Jennifer Tower in the year 2015 or so, you would think they were the perfect couple with the perfect family. Jennifer and Robbie lived in a Florida town in 2015 called Northport. The warm weather was perfect for Jennifer, who loved birds. She would spend hours every day looking at the ones that flew into her yard. And as for her husband Robbie, he was known for having a great sense of humor. On top of that, the couple were very involved with their church and took their faith seriously. In particular, Jennifer and Robbie genuinely believed they were supposed to care for those who were less fortunate. So they volunteered frequently. They gave to charity. They would often travel to Ukraine to work with people who were maybe underprivileged. And when Robbie's sister died unexpectedly, he and Jennifer actually stepped in to help raise her children. They were like a second set of parents to their nieces and nephews. They also babysat all the time for their friends for free, sometimes even long term. After all, a lot of Robbie and Jennifer's friends were also very generous. They just had this well rounded life. When the couple would travel overseas to do charity work, Robbie and Jennifer would watch their kids for weeks or months at a time. There was just one problem. Robbie And Jennifer wanted children of their own. But because of some medical issues, they couldn't get pregnant. So they had decided to adopt. And since they'd spent so much time in Ukraine over the years, they decided to take in a Ukrainian orphan. Now, adoption is a complicated process. It took them a very long time to sort everything out, get approved. And on top of that, Jennifer and Robbie had to decide what they wanted their new family to look like. And then they had to accept that sometimes life doesn't fit your expectations. For example, Robbie reportedly wanted to adopt a girl, but that didn't work out. Instead, in the year 2016, they actually were now in their mid-40s when they welcomed a 14 year old boy into their family via adoption. And his name was Dima. Except, of course, Robbie and Jennifer had some challenges, even though they now had a son in their life. After constantly watching everyone else's kids. Dima had been through a lot before his adoption, and he was still dealing with trauma and mental health problems. See, Dima had originally been raised by a single mother. His biological dad was never in the picture. And when Dima was six, seven or eight years old, his mom died. The reason I'm being vague is because Dima doesn't remember a lot of his earlier life. So it was hard for him to tell Jennifer and Robbie, his adoptive parents, what it had been like. He did say that after his mother passed away, he went to live with his older brother, except his brother wasn't equipped to take care of a grieving child. So after a few months, he told Dima he had to leave. And that's when he went to stay with his uncle. But it was basically history repeating itself. His uncle wasn't able to give Dima the care he needed either. And Dima was acting out because he didn't have the tools to deal with his grief and his reality of his life in a healthy way. A few more months went by, and then Dima's uncle actually sent him to an orphanage. And this was especially hurtful because Dima knew he had living relatives. They had all rejected him. So he grew up feeling unloved, unsupported, and all alone. And then, as we know, when he was 15 years old, almost an adult, Jennifer and Robbie came into his life. They took him from the country he knew. They tried to help him settle into a strange culture he didn't fully understand. And Dima didn't like North Port, Florida. Once he was adopted, he didn't share the religious beliefs his adoptive parents had when they made him go to church and tried to talk to him about Jesus. Dima felt uncomfortable. And when they encouraged him to have American values, he kind of pushed back. He didn't believe in American values. He had Ukrainian values. And on top of that, Dima especially hated it when Jennifer told him what to do. Apparently, he had been raised to believe that men don't necessarily have to listen to women. He thought men should always be in charge. And it upset him that Jennifer had some authority over him. Of course, from her perspective, she is an adult. She is his adoptive mother. So. So of course she was going to make rules and expect Dima to follow them. And when he disrespected her, she would discipline him. But that only made him angrier as time went on. So despite getting to finally do adoption and live their dream, this entire situation was just kind of confusing and difficult. And to make matters worse, Robbie and Jennifer, now raising their own kid, basically had very different parenting styles. Jennifer wanted to show Dima love and acceptance. She thought if she made him feel safe in his new home, he would just eventually let his guard down. Now, meanwhile, Robbie thought Jennifer was going too easy on Dima. He thought Jennifer should be less accepting and supportive and maybe punish him more. So the two of them start fighting a lot about their adoptive son. And Dima was old enough to understand that he was the source of this conflict. He felt responsible for putting strain on their relationship, especially because at one point, Robbie actually told Dima he was ruining his marriage and his life. This is not a fair thing to tell a teenager who had never even asked to be adopted. But sometimes when people are stressed, they make mistakes, they say things. And as unfair as Robbie may have seemed, Dima was pushing boundaries in a major way. This. This adoption, this acclimation was rough. He could be violent when he was upset, and he was upset a lot. He frequently pushed Jennifer. She tries to explain, like, hey, you can't put hands on me. Except anytime she would set a boundary, Dima would get angrier and more violent. Sometimes he would even threaten to hurt them. Like, seriously, I'm not sure what exactly he said he would do, but I do know. Jennifer and Robbie took his words at face value because they began sleeping with their bedroom door locked because they were worried he might hurt them during the night. And the two of them weren't the only people he lashed out at. As he's trying to go to school in America, Dima regularly got into fist fights at school. The teachers and officials warned him, hey, if you don't change, you're going to be expelled. But rather than face those consequences, he just decided to drop out. So now he wasn't in school, and Jennifer and Robbie don't feel safe around him in their own home. And the fact of the matter is, Dima was only getting into even more trouble. So he gets adopted, he's in America, and he gets arrested. But a lot of the details around this incident weren't made public in order to protect the victim. But here's what I know for sure. It was the year 2020. Dima was with a woman in her home, and I don't know who she was, if she was a girlfriend, a relative, an acquaintance. But she had just finished a grocery run, and Dima was at her house helping her put the food away. And then apparently, she said or did something that made him angry, so he slammed the refrigerator shut and threw the woman across the room. I know that she hit her head bad enough it bleeding. There were also cuts on her back. Either way, she felt unsafe enough to call the police in that moment. And they charged Dima with domestic violence. But before he could go to court, a judge actually decided to throw out the charges. And again, I don't know why. The information is confidential, but either way, Jennifer and Robbie are concerned. At this point like this, they've lost control of the situation. So they actually send Dima to live with his grandfather for a while. And the hope was that he would do well in a new environment and help turn things around. But it didn't work. Once again, he spent a short while in a new home, which was in West Virginia. And then his grandfather was like, yeah, you gotta leave. And Dima ended up back at Robbie and Jennifer's house. This was in the summer of 2023, when Jennifer was now 51, Robbie was 49, and Dima was 21. And it's safe to say no one's comfortable. Okay. Robbie and Jennifer believed they owed it to Dima to give unconditional love. They had adopted him. They had made this choice. He was a part of their family. And they're like, we can't turn him away. Even though he's 21 and an adult, we want to be part of his life, and he's still our son. If you have listened to any of my podcasts for a while, you know my love for Quince. Quince makes elevated basics in premium fabrics like European linen, organic cotton, and washable silk without the crazy retail markup. Quince has the closet staples you need. I love their silk skirts. I even have a makeup bag that is the nicest leather from them. And here's what I can tell you about Quince. You are going to get quality products at such a good price. Everything you order from Quince is going to feel luxurious. It is going to feel expensive, but at a good price. 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Dima wasn't home. He was working a late shift at his job. But he had a key, so he Was able to, you know, come home, let himself back in. And for whatever reason, Robbie and Jennifer don't lock their bedroom door that night. Which ends up unfortunate because just before midnight, Dima pulled up, he parked his car, and he comes into Robbie and Jennifer's house. He went into the kitchen, he grabs the knife, and it was still in his hands when he then let himself into his adoptive parents room. Didn't make a noise or turn on the light, so he couldn't see well. But he also didn't wake them up, not until he started stabbing Robbie. Now, this first initial stab wound doesn't kill him. In fact, Robbie woke up and began flailing around to try and defend himself, but he was tangled in the blankets and he's bleeding. And Dima had the advantage because he was armed, he was standing up, and he was willing to kill. Whereas Robbie didn't want to hurt Dima, even in self defense. This is his son. So Dima kept stabbing Robbie all while Robbie's trying to fight back. And in the meantime, this attack, this commotion, wakes up Jennifer. And it takes her a moment to realize what's going on. But as soon as she realizes that Dima is stabbing her husband, she also begins struggling. She tries to defend her husband. She tries fighting Dima instead, Dima turned his attention on her and stabs her as well. Now, thankfully, once again, this stab wasn't a fatal wound. However, Robbie and Jennifer are both now stabbed and bleeding. The good news is, is that in the confusion, they had somehow managed to knock the knife out of Dima's hands. And since the room was dark dim, he didn't see where it landed. But he wasn't discouraged. He just walks out into the kitchen and gets a new knife. He then comes back. But obviously he had bought his parents some precious seconds because during this time, they had scrambled out of bed, hurt, you know, attacked, and darted towards the door. They're moving slow. Dima chases them and he keeps slashing at Robbie as he runs from the bedroom, down the hallway, ends up in the living room. Now there the lights were actually on and Dima could see more clearly. So he was then able to take the knife and get it into his father's neck. He ripped his arteries open and Robbie died. He fell to the ground. He lands face first. He dies, and Dima leaves him there. Now, in the meanwhile, Jennifer has made it out the front door and she has run as quickly as she could all the way to the neighbor's house. This was someone she knew. It was a woman named Jonna Walton. Now, in the past, Jonah had invited the entire Tower family over for barbecues, parties. She'd always wave at Robbie when he was walking the dogs. They weren't like super good friends. But Jennifer trusted Jonna to help her now. So she pounded on the door. She's screaming, I need help. Except Jonna takes a while to come to the door. Keep in mind, it's like midnight at this point. So Jonna's bedroom was on the second floor. She was asleep, so it didn't immediately wake her up. But Jennifer didn't give up. She keeps shouting, knocking, she's ringing the doorbell, and that's loud enough to eventually wake her up. So Jonna goes down the stairs and she heard Jennifer screams, but she doesn't recognize Jennifer's voice. Remember, they aren't especially good friends. And in the heat of the moment and all of the confusion, Jon is afraid to answer the door. I mean, rightfully so. She doesn't know what's going on. There's a woman screaming on her doorstep. She doesn't know if it's a trap. Even if the screaming woman really was in trouble. Jonah didn't want to open her door and risk letting someone dangerous into her home, especially because she had a 10 year old little girl. So Jonna leaves the door and goes to her daughter's room just to check on her and make sure that everything was fine. The daughter was actually still asleep. So to summarize, Jennifer has ran to a neighbor's house. She's screaming and begging for help, and she's essentially being ignored. And that's when Dima comes out to look for her. And he finds her immediately because she's screaming, she's making a lot of noise. So he gets up to the door, he grabs her, he overpowers her, and he drags her back to their home. So she hasn't necessarily escaped. But Jonna was awake. She's aware of the situation, she's confident that her kids are safe, nobody's getting inside, and so she decides to look out the window. She sees nothing because Dima has already taken Jennifer away by this point. But she goes back up to her bedroom and wakes up her husband, who had actually slept through this entire thing. She explained, hey, there was like a woman on our doorstep. She was screaming, asking for help. What should we do? And. And after talking it over, they decide to actually go back to the door, open it, and just see if they can find the woman and figure out what's going on. Now, in the meanwhile, her husband would grab a gun and stand behind Jonna to, like, keep watch, keep her safe. Now, of course, by the time they actually get to the front door and open it, Jennifer's long gone. They don't see her. They don't know what happened. But this is when they notice the blood that is splashed all over their porch and the steps leading onto it. So they're like, oh, this woman was injured. She was bleeding. So they decide to call 911 and report. We don't really know what's going on, but there's blood on our door. There was a woman screaming. We don't know where she went. She was asking for help. Can you respond? Now, Jennifer, back at the house, doesn't know that help is on the way. But on some level, maybe she hoped she had somehow woken the neighbors up and they had called the police. She may have realized that if she could buy herself more time, she might survive this. So she actually sits on the couch with Dima and she tries to talk to him. She's like, what are you doing? Why are you doing this? Keep in mind, this conversation is happening a few feet from her husband's dead body. She could see her husband on the ground in a pool of blood. But Jennifer is trying to de escalate the situation. And so she did her best to act like she was calm and claimed she wanted to understand what was going on. And Dima stops attacking her and answers her questions. He explains, listen, I don't see you as my mother. I don't consider Robbie my father either. I just want to go back to Ukraine. But it doesn't seem like that's an option. Dima also explained he had been very unhappy in the house. He believed they both needed to die so that he could get out of this situation and go live the life he wanted. Now, this entire time, he's kind of rambling, and Jennifer just keeps her face blank. She doesn't show fear, anger, sadness. She also doesn't beg for her life or cry. She's just kind of frozen. She's trying not to show any emotion. Daisy. May. Daisy. And all the while, the clock kept ticking. The police had to be on the way. She may have been praying they would bust through the door any second and save her. But before rescue could come, the conversation seemed over, and Dima picked up his knife. Jennifer, at this point, realizes she's out of time. So she gets up and tries to run away again. She's really hurt and tired. She's lost a lot of blood. She honestly couldn't really walk or run. So she crawls from the couch toward her husband's body, which is where she was. Then stabbed again, and this time in the neck. Dima slashed over and over, didn't stop until he knew she was dead. And then he left her body on the floor, right across from Robbie's remains. They were lying head to head and face down. Now, Dima didn't do anything with the bodies, but he did, at this point, clean the rest of the house like he was trying to cover up the crime. This meant that he rinsed the blood off the murder weapon. He put it away in the knife block. Demi also tried to wash his hands and arms, but obviously he's covered. I mean, he's soaked in blood, and for whatever reason, he doesn't change out of his clothes. Maybe he's. He realizes he's running out of time. Eventually, he grabbed his wallet, personal possessions, including his car keys, and he headed out of the house, just planning to leave forever. And he was actually outside standing by his car, getting ready to leave, still covered in blood when the police arrived. Now, I do want to provide some context. The Northport police know something dangerous is happening in the neighborhood. Like, they know there's a woman who's injured. They don't know who, where, what's going on. So when they arrive, they pull up to Jona's house, since she's the one who called 911. And by pure coincidence, the squad cars happened to park right where Dima was walking toward his car. So as they're there and responding, the officers see a man covered in blood walking out at midnight. Obviously, it's Dima. They watch him shove something into his truck. They can't tell if it's a weapon, a body, or something else, but it's at this point, they're like, hey, put your hands up. Instead, Dima runs toward the driver's seat. He gets in, and he drives away. Like, he flees. He books it out of there. Now, some of the officers stayed behind at the house to try and see who's in trouble, who's bleeding, is there a victim that we need to respond to? And a few others chased after Dima. Now, interestingly, he's not driving that fast at first, but he's refusing to pull over. So the police call for backup. And as more squad cars joined the chase, Dima does start going faster and faster. He's also becoming reckless. He's changing lanes at random. He's driving down the wrong side of the road. He's narrowly avoiding multiple accidents. The Officers at this point are worried he's going to hurt or kill someone, or more accurately, hurt or kill someone else because as we know, you, he had already attacked someone and killed two people. And the police know he's drenched in blood. Now, eventually Dima does make his way onto the freeway. And by now the police were on their radios with other officers at the station. They've arranged for more investigators to lay spikes out on the road. The idea was that when Dima drove over them, they would pop his tires, right, and then he wouldn't be able to go any further and he'd have to turn himself in. We have a full blown car chase happening now. The plan almost worked. Dima drove over the spikes just like they had planned. He punctured his tires. He did pull over, but instead of surrendering, Dima climbs out of his car and just runs into the woods that are nearby. Now, a few officers do chase him, but it's dark outside. He has a head start. They searched as long as they could, but they don't find him. He's gotten away. The good news is, though, they have his car. They know his license plate. They know what house he came from. They were able to identify him. So now they know they are looking for Dima Tower and he couldn't get too far without a vehicle. All right, you guys, I'm talking to you about TaskRabbit and I have actually used TaskRabbit three different times. I got on TaskRabbit to have someone come help me hang up some lights in my backyard. I also got on TaskRabbit to find help to hang up my outdoor swing. Basically, when your to do list keeps growing, TaskRabbit is ready to help you. Just pick a trusted tasker. They'll show up and get whatever you need done done. And Taskers are often available to help the same day. 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Chime is a fintech not a bank. Banking services for MyPay and ChimeCard provided by Chime's bank partners. Optional products and services may have fees or charges. Stated annual percentage yield and cash back for Chime prime only. No minimum balance required. Checking account ranking based on a J.D. power survey published October 20, 2025. For more information on APY rates, my pay spot me and travel perks go to chime.com disclosures now. In the meantime, the other officers were inside the house investigating. They had gone in. They obviously found Robbie and Jennifer's bodies on the living room floor. Floor right where Dima had left them. They each had so many stab wounds it was impossible for the coroner to count them all. He estimated at least 140total. There could have been more. The medical examiner also noticed that most of the injuries had been around Robbie and Jennifer's necks. This told him that the entire time Dima had been trying to murder them. If these slashes had been made in self defense or due to an accident, they wouldn't have just been in Such a vulnerable part of the body. Now, on top of that, the investigators found blood spray all across the bedroom wall. So they knew this is where the crime had begun. And they figured the couple was probably asleep when all of this started. So it made sense. It wasn't self defense. It wasn't an accident. There was more blood on the living room floor and sofa. Jennifer and Dima had even left some on the doorknob when she'd gone outside and he had chased her. And Dima had tracked into the kitchen when he had started cleaning up. The scene itself told the story. The officers also found the bloody rag in the sink from where he had scrubbed the knife clean. But they're confident Dima had murdered his adoptive parents completely unprovoked. They now just needed to find him and figure out why. The very next morning at 7:30am so this is August 24, 2023. Police get a tip. Dima had allegedly been spotted at a Shell gas station. He'd gone inside to buy a bottle of iced tea, and he was actually still at the gas station when the tip came through. So officers rushed to the gas station, and when they arrived, it seemed like they had just missed him. Dima had left. Except then a customer walks up and is like, no, no, no, no, the suspect is still here. He's gone outside. He's wandering through the parking lot behind the gas station. Now, right away, officers drew their guns, run behind the Shell, and ordered Dima to get on the ground. He doesn't resist. And that's how they were able to arrest him. They saw he was muddy, his shoes were wet, and there was a wooded area nearby with a river running through it. So the officers figured this is where he had been hiding out overnight. So next they bring him in and they begin an interrogation. And honestly, he just confesses to everything. He said he had killed his parents because he was unhappy about basically his entire life. He didn't like living in the United States. He didn't agree with Robbie and Jennifer's religious beliefs. He didn't like the way they had tried to raise him or the rules that they had enforced, particularly the ones that gave Jennifer authority over him. So in other words, he really doesn't have a good reason. He just didn't like his situation. Now, Dima never tried to argue it was self defense or that he had anything concrete to gain, like money. All he tells them is a list of complaints. But then also says, I'd been planning the murder for days. He says, no, I wasn't actively fighting with them. Or anything, like nothing happened that tipped me over the edge. He said, one day it just occurred to me, like I could murder them, like I didn't like what was going on and I could just kill them. So he decided to go through with that. This is what he tells the police. He's like, yeah, nothing really happened that triggered me or anything. I just one day was like, I don't like them enough that I think I could kill them. And he did it. Now, during the interrogation, Dima also walked the police through the crime step by step. He explained he'd worked a 12 hour shift at his job that day. He'd been driving home, he felt tired. He just wanted to go to bed. But then he had another impulse. He was going to bring his fantasy to life and kill his parents. So he had parked his car, headed to the kitchen, grabbed a knife. He then explained how he walked in, stabbed Robbie while he was asleep in his bed. He'd started with his dad because he knew Robbie was bigger and stronger. If he'd attacked Jennifer first, Robbie might have been able to overpower him and get the knife away from him. So it was calculated. He had definitely been thinking things through. He then says once Robbie was dead, he had chased Jennifer, who had made it to the neighbor's house. He then dragged her back to the house. Dima even noted, yeah, I didn't even touch the family dog. He says he didn't think it was right to kill a helpless animal. And then they're like, but you could kill your helpless parents. And he's like, well, I don't feel the same compassion for them. His plan had been to flee after the murder, make his way to Orlando, Florida. There were a lot of docks there with ships that carried products all over the world. Dima said he was hoping he could just sneak onto one of those ships and get out of the country undocumented, basically, and eventually make it back to Ukraine. But instead, he had been caught. I do want to make it clear he could have left. He was 21. He had a job. He had his own money. He. He could have left on his own. This was just the easier option. Now he made it clear he does not feel sorry for what he's done. He doesn't feel remorse. He says he's glad he did it, even if it meant he was going to prison. Dima did not agree with his parents enough that he thought the murder was worth it. So based on all of this, he was charged with two counts of first degree murder, one count of fleeing to Elude police with lights and sirens. That was because he drove away from the scene of the crime on the night of the stabbing. Now, Dima's trial began in late November of 2025, and by now he's completely changed his story. To be clear, he still admits he did kill Robbie and Jennifer. But Dima is now claiming that the crime was not premeditated. Instead, he said he had just misspoken during his interrogation. Now, Dima, by the time of his trial, is claiming that on the night of the murders, he had suffered from temporary insanity. Says something just came over him that night. He doesn't know why, but he killed his adoptive parents. And he says it was something he wasn't capable of resisting and he shouldn't be held responsible for it. Now, to be clear, he didn't actually plead insanity. His lawyers didn't call any mental health professionals to speak about his psychology. But on the stand, Dima said he hadn't been consciously aware of what he was doing during the murders. He hadn't been thinking clearly at all. Instead, he was driven by an irrational rage that he couldn't resist. And so he's like, I just. I should only be found guilty of manslaughter, not first degree, which only counts if the crime is premeditated. But I want to be clear that despite his story changing, Nima does not make a very good impression on the judge or the jury. He is argumentative through his entire three day trial. He's called to the stand. He refuses to answer the questions his lawyer or the prosecutor was asking. Instead, he went off on tangents. He insulted court officials, saying they could never understand him or the life he'd lived. He complained Robbie and Jennifer had been terrible parents who didn't know how to deal with his difficult past, that he shouldn't have had to basically obey a woman. And for that, according to Dima, everything that happened was deserved, even though it was an accident. So he doesn't come off sympathetic at all. He comes off argumentative. He comes off entitled. So after the jury heard all of it, they found Dima guilty of the charges. The judge sentenced him to a pair of life sentences, one for each of the victims, plus five years for fleeing the police. He also banned Dima from ever talking to Robbie and Jennifer's relatives or friends. His fear was that Dima might add to their trauma by saying upsetting things about the victims because he clearly had no remorse. And during the sentencing, you could tell the judge was just frustrated with Dima. The outbursts, the disrespect throughout the trial because he gave a speech where he said that it wasn't hard to give this sentence. And then Dima interrupts him and shouts at him, you're talking foolish, Mr. Tower. I don't know what else to say. You seem to be an evil spirit, an evil person, evil spirit. Because you're talking foolish, who doesn't seem to have any. I'm full of remorse. I'm not showing it because I will at this time, Mr. Tower, sentence you as to count one, I will sentence you to life in prison. Now, obviously, this doesn't matter. The trial's over. But he's even yelling at the judge. So Dima's defiant, basically. And that was the end of the Tower family. Robbie and Jennifer were dead. Dima was in prison. Of course, they left their other relatives behind. Siblings, parents, nieces, nephews, cousins. They had to grieve and find a way to make peace and move on. And the tragedy is that Jennifer and Robbie really were just trying to show their love. When they decided to adopt. They thought they were helping Dima get out of a bad situation. They thought they were growing their family. But instead, hatred and rage tore apart everything they had built until all that remained was painful. And that is the murder of Robbie and Jennifer Tower. Thank you guys so much for listening or watching today's episode, and I will see you next time as we go further into the dark together. Goodbye. Hi, I'm Tamsen Fadal, journalist and author of how to Menopause and host of the Tamsen Show, a weekly podcast with your roadmap to midlife and beyond. We cover it all, from dating to divorce, aging to adhd, sleep to sex, brain health to body fat, and even how perimenopause can affect your relationships. And trust me, it can. Each week, I sit down with doctors, experts, and leaders in longevity for unfiltered conversations packed with advice on everything from hormones to happiness, and, of course, how to stay sane during what can be. Well, let's face it, a pretty chaotic chapter of life. Think of us as your midlife survival guide. New episodes released every Wednesday. Listen now on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Into The Dark – Episode 177: The Florida Family Massacre
Host: Payton Moreland
Date: July 1, 2026
Payton Moreland delves into the harrowing case of the Tower family murders in North Port, Florida, a chilling story of love, conflict, and tragedy within an adoptive family. This true crime episode explores the events leading up to the brutal stabbing deaths of Robbie and Jennifer Tower by their adopted son, Dima, highlighting complex issues of trauma, cultural clashes, and the unforeseen dangers that can lurk behind carefully curated family images.
Trigger warning: This episode includes discussions of domestic violence and familial homicide.
On Adoption and Family Disillusionment:
Judge’s Sentencing Moment:
On Dima’s Lack of Remorse and Motivation:
For more true crime stories with a hint of horror and mystery, join Payton Moreland “further Into the Dark” every Wednesday.